Fundraising is a great way to make a difference when you take part in the Brighton Marathon Weekend. We’ve partnered with JustGiving to make it as easy as possible for you to support a cause that you care about. Set up your fundraising page in a couple of clicks and they’ll send your donations directly to your chosen charity.
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Top fundraising tips
Upload a photo
Uploading lots of photos is one of the easiest and most effective ways of personalising your page. When your supporters first visit your page, greet them with a picture of yourself. And remember, you can upload up to ten photos, so why not add a few more to really tell your fundraising story. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words, so update your page with new photos to keep your page looking fresh.
Set a target
Setting a target is not only a great way of motivating yourself, but it’s great also encouraging for your supporters. Letting them know that they are getting you ever closer to your goal may just encourage them to give that little bit more. Plus, there’s no denying how satisfying it is when you see it tip that 100% mark.
Show donors what their support will do
Why not get in touch with your charity? Talk to them about the work they do. Ask them what the money you raise is helping with and tell your potential donors. People love to know the impact of their giving, so if you can, tell them exactly how their donation will help. What could a £10 donation provide? What would a £50 donation mean to the charity? How could a £100 donation change lives?
Tell your story
We think an engaging story can make all the difference. After all fundraising is a story, so use your JustGiving page to tell your story. It’s all about letting your supporters know why you’re fundraising and what it means to you. If you’re challenging yourself with an event, let people know how much effort you’re putting in. If you’re celebrating something or someone, tell your supporters why. If they are visiting your page, they must be interested in what you’re doing, so make sure you tell them all about it.
Email your contacts in groups
It’s a great idea to email your family and closest friends first. As your most ardent supporters, they are most likely to support you and get the ball rolling. An empty page might be intimidating for some donors, so having a couple of donations on the page should encourage other supporters. People also tend to match the amounts already listed on the page, and your family and close friends are more likely to get you started with some generous donations.
Tweet your page
A website like twitter is an absolute gem for fundraising, helping you reach out to a huge community. Tweet your followers with your link and ask them to retweet it to their followers. The more people that retweet, the more people that will see your page.
Put your page address in your email signatures
Adding you web address to your email signature is a quick and easy win in terms of getting your page out there. You can just add a hyperlink, or you can use one of our ‘sponsor me’ badges. It only takes doing it one and then every email that you send out will be raising more awareness of your fundraising and attracting more donations.
Thank people
Saying thank you is super important and there is plenty of ways you can say thank you to your supporters. You can update the story on your page, send emails out to your donors, tweet a thank you and update your Facebook status. Let people know how your fundraising went, just what their support has meant to you and what a difference it will make to your charity.
Send a follow up email
Be persistent. It takes more than one round of emails to reach your target. You know what it’s like – people mean to donate, but sometimes they don’t quite get round to it and they may forgot to do it later. Or perhaps when you first emailed them, maybe it wasn’t a great time, but now you’re catching them just after a pay day. Also, remember to thank the people who have already supported you so far and ask if they wouldn’t mind passing on your page to their contacts.
Contact your local press
A bit of exposure such as a few lines in the local paper or an appeal on your local radio station can really help. If they publicise your page address, it will be really easy for readers and listeners to support you.
